Escaping The Claws Of Love
by MikanXNatsumefan101
Summary: Sequel to Emotions She Could Never Show. Ruka's back. He can't remember any of them, and he's acting cold and indifferent. But behind the cold facade, he's hiding a dark secret. "If I told you who I really am, I'll have to kill you." - RxH.


Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

MikanXNatsumefan101: Uh, hi everyone! *waves nervously* I know you're going to kill me for updating a whole new story instead of working on my stories which are undergoing deep revision, so I've decided: After I update this chapter, I vow that I WILL update a new chapter for Highschool Life is Crazy, and So Is Mine very VERY soon. At least, as soon as I can. I'll make the chapter long though. Anyways, in the meantime, I shall focus deeply on this new inspiration I have got.

First of all, to let you know why I have suddenly developed a new story out of the blue, I shall tell you everything from the start. I was busy with my homework during the holidays lately, so I decided to visit my fanfiction profile, and re-read all my stories and their reviews. First thing I looked at was my Rukaru fanfictions (recently I've really fallen for this pairing), and checked out the sad, tragic stories. So I visited the _Emotions she could never show_. After reading it, I checked out the reviews (yeah, nothing better to do, I know) and saw the review that **omen-chan** gave me. I really have to thank her for giving me the inspiration to start this story. I never realized how come I didn't notice her review much when I saw it at first.

So here pops up the sequel to _Emotions she could never show_! Kick back in your seat, and relax!

_PS. Special thanks to:_

**Omen-chan**

**Catheriney2004**

_A Wish Upon A Star_

_**Chapter One: Post-War events**_

After the Alice Academy's facilities were all fully repaired (which had taken less than two weeks) from the damage that had been done during the AAO vs AA war, the lessons that had been suspended due to the distracting surroundings and also for the mentally unstable students to recuperate had resumed and soon the hectic life that had previously occupied the Alice Academy's students had returned, and everyone was soon busy working on their projects, doing their homework and attending supplementary classes. However, the warm and fuzzy atmosphere that had once filled 2B's classroom was gone, as seeing that Mikan had turned sullen and slightly withdrawn after Ruka's death, all the classmates became downcast and less rowdy, and a moody and melancholic air filled the classroom.

Mikan couldn't help noticing that Hotaru had become less talkative, which was saying something since she always had been a girl of few words, and now barely spoke a word unless asked a direct question by any teacher or a person of significant importance to the school. Even as Mikan asked her how her day was, she would simply ignore the question, or just say "Fine". Her sadistic taste for shooting people with her baka gun had gone away, and after classes ended, she would pack her bag and head straight back to her dormitory, coming out only for meals and supplementary classes.

Mikan often crept up to Hotaru's bedroom door to hear what she was doing inside, and heard whirring of mechanism, or some hammering; evidences of Hotaru creating new inventions. She was burying herself in work, Mikan realized sadly, to forget about Ruka's death. A classmate's death was indeed painful, but what Mikan didn't figure out was that what was so agonizing about his death was that Hotaru had been in love with him for ages; thus intensifying the emotional hurt.

What had made Mikan decide to have a heart-to-heart talk with her best friend was due to what had happened on a fateful Monday morning.

xxxxx

Hotaru had walked in class 2B and sat at her desk, pulling out her new invention from her bag to work on when abruptly, a boy with spiky blue hair started a conversation with a pretty girl with long, purple locks. "Hey there, babe." He said, his voice slick and with the tone of someone wanting to use a pick-up line on a hot girl. "Want to hang out this Saturday? We could watch a movie and have dinner out. My treat." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"Sorry, I'm not really in the mood for any dates. Ruka-kun's my idol, and I'm really upset by all the negative events that have been happening." Apparently this girl was Ruka's hardcore fan, but what the boy was going to do next was going to be what he was going to regret doing in a few minute's time.

"Hah. That stupid pretty boy? Oh, please. He was the most pathetic being on earth. Now that he's gone, he's doing the world a service." The blue haired boy snorted.

Unknown to him, Natsume was in the room as well, and one thing he could not tolerate was hearing his best friend being put down. He clenched his fist, and was just about to set the stupid idiot's hair on fire when there was a loud bang, followed by a thud. The boy was slumped on the ground against the wall, with the imprint of the infamous horseshoe glove invented by Hotaru shown clearly on his face, wincing in pain. Hotaru's shadow loomed over him, the owner of the shadow bearing a murderous expression on her face. Her boot crunched onto his right hand, and made a sick, twisting sound as the boy groaned loudly in pain, begging for mercy.

"Do not," She hissed, her boot digging deeper into his skin, "_ever insult Ruka Nogi before me __**ever **__again, unless you have a death wish, __bastard.__" _With that, she removed her boot and released his hand, revealing a red, raw and slightly bleeding hand. The boy took his hand in his other gingerly, blowing on it carefully, all the while looking at Hotaru albeit resentfully as she took her school bag and stalked out of the classroom, her purple eyes showing all the signs of murder in them.

His friend rushed out from his seat, and dashed over to the blue-haired boy, "Kyo, dude, you alright, man?" Kyo nodded curtly, glaring at the door which Hotaru had just slammed. Natsume returned to his manga, despite his surprise during the assault. _So that Imai did care about Ruka…_

Mikan who had been sitting at one side watching what had been happening, was determined to have a heart-to-heart talk with Hotaru after dinner.

XxxxX

Hotaru frowned as someone knocked on her bedroom door. Sighing, she temporarily gave up her search for her wrench and walked to the door and yanked it open. "Mikan." She said flatly at the auburn-haired girl in her doorway. The said girl merely gave a huge beam at her best friend.

"Good evening Hotaru!" She sang cheerfully, though the ever-observant Hotaru could sense the slight concern and worry in her eyes. "Can I come in?" Hotaru pondered the question for a while, and finally stepped back silently to allow her entry. "Your three-star room is still ever so cool, Hotaru!" Mikan gushed.

"You've been in here before, dummy." Hotaru muttered.

"This is my third time, though, Hotaru. You rarely allow me in here!" Her best friend protested, flopping on her bed. "And your bed's still soooo fluffy and soft!" She giggled.

This time, Hotaru couldn't resist rolling her eyes. "What did you come here for?"

Mikan's blissful expression grew serious after Hotaru's purposeful question. "Well, I'm here to talk to you about the effects the post-war events have been having on you." Hotaru narrowed her eyes.

"I don't need any counseling, Mikan. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do." She pointed to her bedroom door, and looked steadily at Mikan.

"I knew you would say this, Hotaru!" Her best friend sighed, hugging a pillow. "Look, I know it's been really hard on you psychologically. A classmate's death always tends to have a toll on your mental health. But your life can't go on like this. I've seen what happened in the classroom this morning, Hotaru. You practically _tortured_ that boy."

Hotaru's eyes seemed to pierce through hers as she replied, "So you're saying that you would have let that boy gotten away with all the name-calling with your Ruka-_pyon_, then? And I had thought he was one of your closest friends, Mikan. I can't believe you." She practically spat out the word _pyon_, glaring icily at Mikan.

"No, I wouldn't." Mikan said quietly. "He was one of our best friends. But think about it. If he were looking at us from up there in heaven, he wouldn't have wanted us to argue among our classmates, right? It was all the disunity that had actually enabled the AAO to stage a war at our school, due to the fact that our inner defense had been broken. He had been a really peaceful guy, Ruka-pyon was. Ruka-pyon wouldn't have wanted to this to happen to any of us. He wouldn't want us to fight for his behalf, and become withdrawn because of him. He would have wanted us to continue our lives happily, to live our lives to the fullest because of him. Anna, Nonoko and even Sumire have been really worried about you, Hotaru. We're all concerned about you." She stood up, and headed to the door, paused, and tilted her head to her left, looking at Hotaru at the corner of her eye. "What I want to say is, Hotaru, no matter what happens, we'll never stop caring about you. If you have any trouble, we'll always be there for you. Good night, best friend." Mikan wrenched the door knob and stepped out of the bedroom. Hotaru flopped onto her bed just as she heard the click of the door behind her.

Hotaru had always known Mikan was a very perspective person, but had never realized she was so straightforward. _It must have been something to do with age, _Hotaru thought, _We're all already twelve this year. In another year's time, we'll all be in the middle school section._

"_Ruka-pyon wouldn't have wanted this to happen to any of us."_

"_He wouldn't want us to fight for his behalf, and become withdrawn because of him_."Sighing, Hotaru got up from her bed and walked to her bedroom window, looking out at the dark sky, brightened up by several sparkling and shimmering stars. As she gazed at the stars, she wondered, _Ruka, where are you up there? Would you really have wanted me to live on normally as I did before?_

xxxxx

Meanwhile, in a comfortable and cozy office, a man with dark, brown hair was seated behind a desk, playing with a glass prism with his fingers, while a woman with purple hair sat down on a cushy moveable chair in front of the desk.

"Kawamura-san." Her voice was clear and sharp, ringing loudly in the office. "The boy we have captured from the AA is showing signs of consciousness."

Kawamura raised an eyebrow, and placed the glass prism on his desk, looking at the woman for the first time. "And how was the running of the test?"

The woman showed no signs of emotion, "He has been tested positive for having another Alice, sir."

A wide smirk grew on his face, "Very well. When is it estimated that he would wake up?"

"Approximately two days."

"Has the injection for memory adjusting been given to him?"

"Yes, sir. When he regains consciousness, he would have no memory of his past at all."

The smirk on Kawamura's face grew wider.

Xxxxx

Hotaru returned to class on Wednesday morning having skipped lessons on Tuesday, and when Mikan spotted her best friend, she gave a wave, hoping that Hotaru had thought through things, and was instantly rewarded for her efforts with one of Hotaru's rare smiles and a small wave from her. Mikan felt a gush of achievement wash over her._ Maybe Hotaru will now be more open. I've missed the old Hotaru so much… _She ran over to the said girl, and smiled happily at her. "Good morning Hotaru! How's it going?"

"Much better." Hotaru gave a tiny smile, and Mikan squealed, jumping onto her best friend, hugging her. Hotaru scowled, and with a loud _**baka baka baka!**_ Mikan crashed into the wall behind her, the baka gun in Hotaru's hand. Mikan pouted, but the pout was replaced by a smile almost immediately.

"Looks like the old Hotaru is back!" Hotaru sighed inwardly, dumping her school bag onto her chair, then dug out a copy of the Inventors Weekly magazine to take a look at the new creations to see if she could get any inspiration for a new invention that she needed to come up with by the end of the week to sell it to a potential client that Misaki-sensei had mentioned to her. After all, fifty percent of the commission was going to her. And after that, maybe, just _maybe_ she'd go out with Mikan to Central Town to purchase some crab brains for a midnight snack. A small smile appeared on her face. _I hope Ruka's happy up there, somewhere, watching me revert to my old self, just the way I'd been before the war._

XxxxX

A blonde boy woke up with a start, wincing at the intense pain in his right arm and grimacing at the pain in his stomach. _It hurts…_ He slowly sat up, and realized he was lying in a white bed, in a laboratory. _Where am I?_ He glanced at his right arm, but saw no visible signs of injury. _What's going on?_ He shook his blurry thoughts out of his head, and then started observing his surroundings. There was a sturdy white table next to the white bed, which had a blue porcelain cup on it, and appeared to have steam coming out of it. There was a small Post-it note stuck on the table next to the porcelain cup that had an elegant hand-writing on it.

_When you wake up, drink this._

_You have not eaten or drunk anything while you were in a coma,_

_Which is why your stomach is hurting._

_Don't worry. We wouldn't bother poisoning you._

_You're far too useful to us._

He glanced around suspiciously, as if half-expecting someone to jump out and warn him that the drink contained poison, and that he should not drink it, but as nothing of the such happened, he gripped the handle with his fingers and raised it to his lips and drained the cup. Almost instantly, he felt better, and his stomach felt warm and cozy. As he placed the cup back on the table, he tried to remember what had happened for him to end up in this place. But instead of recollections crossing his mind, his brain greeted a black blank and a pounding headache followed soon after. _I can't remember what happened earlier on… What on earth happened? I can't remember anything at all. Stop it. Stop it. My head is hurting… Can't… think…_ He clutched his head in pain, and bit his lower lip, squirming on the soft bed, when the door of the laboratory clicked open, and someone walked in. In the man's right hand was a syringe with some unknown-looking liquid inside, and he strolled over to his side, and plunged the needle into his skin, and injected the liquid into his bloodstream. The boy went limp, and the man pulled out the needle, turning to the woman beside him and handed her the syringe.

"I just _had_ to give him the sedative. And there I was, thinking that he wouldn't bother trying to recall his past. Honestly, kids these days are so troublesome. I don't even know why Kawamura would bother dragging this kid in." He murmured to the woman, who snickered.

"Well, I highly doubt that you, as an adult, can pull off going undercover acting as a new student to infiltrate the AA." She sneered, as she picked up the blue porcelain cup from the table.

He grunted, "Women."

She rolled her eyes, and left the room with him, giving one last glance at the blonde boy lying on the hospital bed. _I sure as hell hope that in the frenzy last week Haranai didn't mistake the prototype memory mixture for the actual improved and foolproof one. 'Cause the foolproof version shouldn't have a side effect like the prototype did._

Xxxxx

The blonde boy had practically been dragged from the laboratory to Kawamura's office, and now he was glancing suspiciously at his surroundings. _Where the shit am I?_ He turned to the man with the dark brown hair, his expression almost hostile. "Who are you, and where am I?"

The man did not seem to be perturbed by his hostile tone and wild eyes (but it was probably due to the fact that there were six well-built bodyguards forming a protective circle around him), but instead, gestured to a comfortable office chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat first."

"No!" His reaction was immediate, startling and he shoved the movable seat that had been offered to him away, his strength causing it to hit a nearby office wall.

"I said, take a seat." Kawamura's tone did not change. Instantly, two of the bodyguards grabbed his flailing arms, pushed the chair back to the desk, and forced him to sit down. Ruka had stopped struggling, but was now glaring angrily at the man behind the office desk. "Let me ask you something. Do you know what your name is?"

"No." The blond boy's lip curled.

"Your name is Ruka Nogi, and you are now in the Anti-Alice Organisation headquarters. I have a long story to tell you, so you might as well relax and listen."

_**To be continued…**_

MikanXNatsumefan101: Oh. My. God. I spent almost one whole month editing this whole thing. Now, I'm off to finish up my _High School Life is Crazy, And So Is Mine_, before I update this new story. PS. I hope you found this story enjoyable. Cya~


End file.
